If You Can’t Give Money, Give Time

I have talked about different ways of being frugal while still giving back. I love stretching my pro-social dollars by lending through Kiva. I have also talked about my New Years resolution of being generous with my friends. But there is one, obvious way to give back without spending a dime: volunteering. Instead of giving your money, give your time.

This may be an obvious option to you, but the reason I haven’t written this post before now is that I want to challenge all of us to actually COMMIT to a volunteer day. I have been speaking with the NYC Parks Department about setting up a day in May for me, my readers, and my fellow NYC bloggers. What better way to ring in Spring 2014, than by getting outdoors and helping maintain the amazing green spaces here in New York.

For those of you not in New York, I urge you to create your own volunteer day with friends, family, and anyone else in your community. I will be more than happy to support you by posting the info for other cities my site as well as through social media outlets.

In New York, we will be gathering Saturday, May 3rd, during the day. Exact activity details are forthcoming, but we will definitely be working on beautifying and maintaining NYC parks. Here is what’s confirmed so far:

When: May 3rd – 10am to 1pm

Where: TBD – Manhattan

Type of Volunteer Work: TBD

What to Bring: Appropriately Clothing – Will communicate what this should be closer to the date

14 thoughts on “If You Can’t Give Money, Give Time”

Enjoy, should be beautiful. I occasionally volunteer as a Ukrainian Girl Scout Counselor. That may sound random, but I grew up in the organization, so it has a very community oriented feel. The people who were my counselors growing up now have their kids enrolled.Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted: Love and Money: Long Distance Expenses

Sounds like a promising day! It’s nice to give back a little. I’m not quite comfortable enough to give away large sums of money, but I am more free with my time if a good cause needs a little help. I won’t be able to fly up to NYC to join you guys, but hope you have a good time (and do a little good in the community while you’re at it!).

We’ve got a program here in our neighborhood where volunteers basically go around an plant trees in low income neighborhoods. Can’t wait for the weather to turn and to be able to do it. Time is usually better than money in my opinion. Especially if you’ve got a special skill, or really if you’ve got more money than time.Ryan @ Impersonal Finance recently posted: the classics of personal finance